We have just launched a reflection on the weaknesses of the main indicator of growth and, so to speak, of wealth: GDP.
The objective of this reflection is to show, with supporting examples, that this indicator, GDP, is purely and simply incompatible with the notion of sustainable and ecological development.
Yet it seems to us that neither economists (necessarily) neither the politicians but worse, nor the actors of ecology (at least to our knowledge) want to question this indicator, already more than a hundred years old ...
However, the economy dominating the world, this is perhaps where we should start to really move things in the right direction ...
Indeed: when a system evolves (in our case, the world), it becomes necessary to change the measurement tools needed to qualify it and therefore understand it. If the tools are no longer suitable, the understanding of the system becomes incomplete or worse and the decisions to direct this system are erroneous.
1ere part: the paradoxes of the GDP
You all know that the only economic index that interests the policies is GDP.
GDP does not measure wealth (in the capital sense) since it measures the sum of added values, i.e. industrial production and trade (although the 2 are linked but it is nevertheless not wealth, see example below).
Thus, economists are satisfied with this index which does not measure wealth to measure the good economic health of a country: the famous GROWTH.
Urban artist absolutely laughable thing, GDP is not corrected by inflation, so do you think we can talk about growth when the GDP is 2% while inflation over the same period is 3%?
This is the 1st paradox of GDP: it is not corrected by inflation.
In addition, this famous inflation is also completely distorted, for example, it does not take real estate into account ... otherwise it would date or even currently exceed 10% ...
Read the rest of the reasoning and understand a little better the flaws and paradoxes of the GDP and perhaps contribute to our reflection, visit the page: GDP: inconsistent growth and ecology?